Episode 36: The White Chapel

Senuseret I (Part 3): Karnak.

The reign of Senuseret I is notable for the swathe of construction projects initiated at the king’s command.

For the first time since the Old Kingdom, monuments are being erected up and down the Nile Valley. Most noteworthy are the contributions at Karnak, where the legendary temple finds its genesis; Elephantine, where existing temples are re-modeled and reconstructed; and Heliopolis, where Senuseret’s obelisk is the only surviving monument of antiquity.

The king’s pyramid at al-Lisht also attempts something new…with mixed results.

Senuseret I

• Overview of reign and records at SLU.edu.
• Overview of records at UCL.
• Detailed summary of reign at Wikipedia.
• Misc monuments, objects, and art at Wikimedia.

Names / Titles

• Horus: Ankhmesut
• Two Ladies: Ankhmesut
• Golden Horus: Ankhmesut
• Throne name/Prenomen: Kheper-ka-Re
• Personal name/Nomen: Senusret

Wives

• Neferu III

Monuments

• Pyramid complex at al-Lisht, Wikimedia.
• The White Chapel at Karnak, photos by Kairoinfo4u, Flickr.
• Obelisk in the Temple of Ra at Iunu (Heliopolis), Wikimedia.

The Twelfth Dynasty

• Summary at Wikipedia.
• Summary at ancient-egypt.org.
• List of Kings (Dynasties 11 and 12) at UCL.
• History: The Twelfth Dynasty’s rise to power in Lisa K. Sabbahy, Kingship, Power, and Legitimacy in Ancient Egypt, 2020. Cambridge University Press.
• History: Late Middle Kingdom at UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology.
• Family tree at Wikipedia, based on Dodson and Hilton, Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, 2004.